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The Empire
__TOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__ From the South, across the southern sea, the great Baccus empire launched an invasion fleet and landed a powerful army on the shores of Pendor led by the war-hardened General Oasar. He drove inland, rapidly conquering cities and castles, seemingly at an unstoppable pace. In a twist of fate, just a few months after a commencement of his campaign, the general received a messenger who informed him that the Emperor had been assassinated, and that the Empire had lapsed into civil war. Upon receiving this shocking news, Oasar established himself, with the support of several Pendor Lords, as Overlord of Janos, and officially broke away from what was left of the old Baccus Empire. The once-great Baccus Empire convoluted and fragmented into dozens of principalities, city-states and kingdoms. The greatest and most powerful of them was the under the dominion of the priesthood of the serpent: a powerful and seemingly mystical religion of warrior priests who worship the unnamed goddess of darkness who manifests herself in the form of a snake. For the once great kingdom of Pendor, that meant that a large portion of its Southern lands, cities and nobility were now either dead or sworn to service under this upstart foreign general who called himself Overlord. The Empire (A.K.A. Baccus Empire or the New Empire) is one of five major factions in Prophesy of Pendor, the one in the East. It is ruled by Marius Imperator, whilst the claimant is Demosthenes Augustus. Overview The Empire is possibly the most balanced faction overall at the start of the game (the player-made contender, The Kingdom of Pendor, actually possesses the most balanced troop tree). It focuses on footmen like The Fierdsvain, but they're different in these that they also stand out with their crossbowmen. The Empire has strong and precise crossbowmen, but their infantry synergizes quite well. Legionnaires, Gladiators and Armored Pikemen, if under the command of a good leader and solid formations, can cause serious damage to most armies. Combine these infantry with Armored Crossbowmen and they will crush most foes with few casualties, as they don't have any clear weaknesses. The commoner cavalry is very weak, an attempt at being mounted crossbowmen, but clearly outclassed by the foot crossbowmen and their better crossbows, armor, and more experience. Noble cavalry includes Empire Knights, which are quickly amassed due the very low levels of its previous troops, requiring few denars and experience to be upgraded. Though easy to spam, Empire Knights are outclassed by the cavalry of every other faction save the Fierdsvain. The Empire does receive a heavy bonus in cavalry from having at least four Knighthood orders guaranteed to start in their borders, including the powerful horsemen of the Order of the Shadow Legion and Order of the Phoenix. Their appearance looks very alike to Ancient Rome. Similar to Mettenheim, as both come from the same kingdom, the Empire prefers to use crossbows rather than bows, as their more advanced technology does allow them to create strong crossbows with deadly precision. Knighthood orders The empire has the most Knighthood Orders spawning for sure in their kingdoms, being 4 a certainty and a fifth one a probability. They are all attached to the Empire, either from the New Empire (Order of the Radiant Cross (80% chance in Ethos) and Empire Immortals (always in Janos and 10% chance in Ethos), the Ashenborn (Order of the Shadow Wolves and Order of the Phoenix (each in one castle) or the Old Empire (Order of the Shadow Legion in Cez). The Immortals were the ones chosen by Marius to be the Empire's Factional Order. Reinforcements These are the recruiting patrons all lords and walled fiefs attached to the Empire culture will follow (ordered by tier): Commoners * 1-2 Empire Citizen * 1-3 Empire Levy Recruit * 2-4 Empire Levy Militia * 2-4 Empire Levy Hunter * 4-6 Empire Light Infantry (was 4-8 before 3.9) * 3-5 Empire Levy Skirmisher * 2-4 Empire Heavy Infantry * 0-0 Empire Pikeman * 0-0 Empire Levy Horseman (was 0-0 Empire Light Cavalry before 3.9) * 2-3 Empire Crossbowman (was 2-4 before 3.9) * 1-3 Empire Cavalry (was 1-4 Empire Horseman before 3.9) * 1-3 Empire Legionnaire (was 2-4 before 3.9) * 2-3 Empire Gladiator * 2-4 Empire Armored Pikeman * 2-4 Empire Armored Crossbowman (was 3-5 before 3.9) Nobles * 1-2 Empire Nobleman * 1-4 Empire Noble Legionnaire Recruit * 1-3 Empire Knight (was 1-4 before 3.9) * 0-1 Empire Immortal Troop trees Lords The Empire has 20 lords, these being: * [[Justus Dux|'Justus Dux']] * [[Kyros Dux|'Kyros Dux']] * [[Livius Dux|'Livius Dux']] * [[Sidonious Legatus|'Sidonious Legatus']] * [[Cleon Legatus|'Cleon Legatus']] * [[Titus Legatus|'Titus Legatus']] * [[Varius Legatus|'Varius Legatus']] * [[Agathon Legatus|'Agathon Legatus']] * Rimusk Legatus * Bionr Legatus * Lord Brutus * Lord Decimus * Lord Alus * Lord Antonious * Lord Fabius * Lord Gallus * Lord Dion * Lord Deodatus * Lord Cassian * Lord Leonius Note: the ones in bold are notable lords, meaning they will have fixed higher values every game, some of these will even have Household troops. Cities There are 3 cities within this kingdom, these being: * Janos (capital) * Ethos * Cez Castles 8 Castles protect this kingdom, these being: * Calendain Castle * Walven Castle * Maras Castle * Salvador Castle * Almerra Castle * Rela Keep * Oregar Castle * Shieldstorm Keep Background The Empire has a relatively short history in Pendorian terms. Their background, however, reaches further back, before their incursion into Pendor. First, there was the Baccus Empire, which proudly held place as a regional power equal to Pendor and Barclay. Those three nations created a balance of power which remained unbroken for decades, as all three nations enjoyed relative peace. Circumstances changed when Pendor collapsed following the Red Plague. Barclay and the Baccus Empire soon found themselves at odds over which of them would fill the power vacuum left by the fall of Pendor. Their war raged for five years, with neither side giving an inch of territory. The war eventually petered out in a stalemate. Once Barclay and the Baccus Empire concluded a truce, the Emperor unleashed his armies upon a ravaged Pendor. The Year 203 saw the full invasion launched under the command of General Oasar. The campaign went very well; towns and cities fell before the military might of the Baccus Empire. Then, Lord Alfred, Duke of Sarleon, managed to unite Pendor once again under a single banner, which held off the baying Baccus Empire hordes. A year later Oasar received word that his Emperor had been assassinated. The Baccus Empire itself was in the throes of a bloody civil war. Lacking resupply and reinforcement, General Oasar set about consolidating his gains in Pendor and began to forge a new nation. Now Marius I holds the Empire throne as Imperator, but he is faced with a new foe. The Snake Cult, which was victorious in the old Baccus Empire, arrived on the shores of Pendor and have begun to infiltrate the circles of power within Empire society. Determined to avoid a similar fate to that of his predecessors, Marius launched a massive crusade against the Snake Cult, both militarily and culturally. As a result of the so called "Marius Reforms," the Empire is enjoying a golden age, making great advances in philosophy, mathematics and strategy. The question is whether the Empire will be able to harness their creative force and overcome the obstacles they face, or be relegated to just another footnote in the history of the Snake Cult... Commentary on the Empire "We came to Pendor in order to spread enlightenment to a backward society. Now that Pendor is our home, we find that our ancestral lands have been corrupted. It is we who must guard against the decadence of superstition." -Marius Imperator, Emperor of the New Empire "I've heard that even the men in the Empire drink wine. I would never touch that stuff, how can anyone like the seepage of rotting grapes? Barkeep! Give me another ale!" -Ravenstern Kierguard "I like fighting the Empire. They don't need a horse to do their fighting for them. They stand and fight eye to eye." -Fierdsvain Huscarl "They say that blood sports are a manner of entertainment in the Empire. I quite agree; fighting their armies always leaves me holding my sides with laughter." -D'Shar Windrider "$£%&. Don't even get me started on those invading barbarians." -Sarleon Halberdier "Mariuss iss a fool who dancess for the godss. Azi Dahaka will sshow him that sscience will not keep the Sserpent Cult from our rightful heritage in Pendor." -Attributed to an unknown Snake Priestess Extra Here's a video overviewing the Baccus Empire faction's most notable lords, factional knighthood order and their elite troops: Category:Empire Category:Major Factions Category:Troop trees